A Traitor Among Us
by Nemmex Van Merrique
Summary: A young boy avenges his grandfather's death by going back in time with a robot of his grandfathers design.


Intro

He looked so realistic. Fascinating on how realistic he looked...  
His grandfather was truly a genius to create something so real...yet it was nothing but metal.  
The memories started to choke him up with emotion, which made him pant harder; he thought This is no time to get emotional.  
Every time he thought of his dear old grandfather, Professor Dakota, as his pupils and fellow researchers called him, Sebastian choked up.  
His grandfather was murdered for a device that could change life as everyone knew it. Literally.  
Because of his grandfathers' death, he has gone through a change that was thought to only be dreamt of.  
Sebastian was now in the medieval times. Unfortunately, it wasn't a joyous occasion. Not unless you consider being chased by a small band of elite assassins sent after you by the one you are trying to stop as fun.  
Why was he here? Well, he knew his purpose; to stop, kill if he had to, the mad man who wanted to change history with The Warp  
The thoughts of how he had gotten there started to flash through his head as he continued to run through the mountain vegetation with his metal friend...

Chapter 1

"Why can't I see your latest invention?"  
Giving a mirthful smile, "Because it would blow your mind! It would change your whole world."  
"Oh, come on old man, you know I won't tell anyone!" Sebastian cried out exasperated. "I haven't told anyone about your other inventions."  
"The only was to make a trustworthy person, is by trusting them." Professor Dakota said promptly "Then I must be one of the most trust worth people in the world!" Sebastian said with a sly smile.  
Ignoring his grandsons comment, Professor Dakota continued to tinker with a small device with wires hanging from it. What it could possible go to, was beyond Sebastian most imaginative dreams.  
"Beside the point," the professor muttered loud enough to be heard, "The device is about physics, not chemistry."  
Professor Dakota was a physics genius. He is a world leader in the exploration in physics, pushing the boundaries of this world. He had created many marvelous devices...  
Sebastian, on the other hand, had no inclination to physics. His expertise was in chemistry. He had done a little of inventing himself, creating new chemicals, but nothing that could rival to his grandfathers creations.  
"What are you making now, old man?" Sebastian asked.  
Old man was a nickname he had given his grandfather when he was younger, shortly after he reading Old Man and The Sea. Hemingway's description of the Old Man reminded him of his grandfather.  
"A heart..."  
"What?!" Sebastian asked, taken aback "What are you doing, creating a metal Frankenstein?"  
After a moment "You could say that."  
Ok, that would be about the creepiest thing he's made yet, thought Sebastian.  
His grandfather had made so many fascinating contraptions; spy cameras as small as the head of a pin, de-gravitational equipment, and even anti-matter.  
One thing he learned about his grandfather, shortly after he adopted him, is that what he says doesn't always mean those exact words. Or, he'll only tell describe half of something, and not explain the rest.  
"Why don't you run upstairs and do whatever you youngsters do now days. I have some tiny adjustments I need to make then prepare the transportation of my invention that would blow your mind." Dakota said after lifting his eyes from his 'heart'.  
Sebastian was walking to the labs doors before turning, "You're just trying to kill me with curiosity, aren't you?"  
Giving a small chuckle, "Time will do that all by itself."  
Sebastian pushed the doors open and left. Hestood and watched his grandfather until the doors closed and then headed to the elevators.

Chapter 2

"Please sit down Sebastian, he's as big of a lose for us as he is you."  
"He wasn't the only one you had left you bitch!" Sebastian cried out.  
Looking as if she had been slapped "He was the only one of his caliper in the world. And he was one of my closest friends." With those final words, Dr. Kimiko turned and left Sebastian to lay on his pillow and wallow in pain and hurt.  
The words Kimiko had gotten through to Sebastian, but he didn't care. His grandfather was the only one left in his family. The only one he had left.  
The rest of his family had died when he was younger, much younger.  
He was about six years old that fateful day that stole his family and former life from him.  
Sebastian, having a curious mind, had wondered into the attic. He was a child of great imagination, and the attic left much to his imagination, so he explored it.  
After going through a box, he found himself inspecting a photo album with pictures of him and his family.  
Only one thing that seemed wrong in that picture and that was the fact there were two of him in the picture. Younger looking, but still him.  
Wandering down from the attic down to the kitchen where he found his mother sitting at the dinning table.  
"Mommy. Who is this other me in the picture?" Sebastian asked handing the picture he had taken from the album.  
"What's that pumpkin?" His mother asked, taking the picture from him and looking at it.  
Then, the strangest thing happened to his mother's expression. It went from calm, to a look of hurt, and then finally to a look regret and sorrow.  
"Why don't you go out and play, Sebastian?" his mothers quavering voice suggested.  
The idea seemed fine to Sebastian, so he left to go and play out underneath his favorite apple tree at the edge of the meadow.  
Sister should ask mommy to go shopping, thought Sebastian. That always make mommy happy.  
Sebastian played for a while, watching the ants crawl along the ground, birds fly, and even imagining he could fly.  
After a while, he started wishing he had someone to play with and then the feeling of emptiness came over him. Sebastian could never understand that feeling.  
Noticing how the sky had started to change colors, he started to head back to the house.  
It was then that he noticed the smoke billowing out of every window.  
The first real panic hit Sebastian, as he started to run as fast as his little legs could carry him. Daddy, mommy, sissy! His young mind cried out.  
Fire engines and police cars came roaring up to the house. A man in uniform spotting Sebastian running toward the house, in a few quick steps, caught him and was holding him. No matter how much Sebastian squirmed, he couldn't seem to be able break free from his grip.  
The cop carried the now collapsed Sebastian to a weathered and worn looking man. Now in this mans arms, he looked up to the old mans eyes and saw his grandfather...

Grandpa! Sebastian cried out mentally.  
It was just a dream. A nightmare.  
The gravity of everything that had caused him to cry himself to sleep started coming back to him.  
Sebastian felt like he wanted to cry, but he couldn't muster it. It seemed that he had nothing left in him that would allow him to do so. The feeling left him feeling numb.  
His bedroom door open and a hand reached in and turned the lights went on.  
Its dusk...Sebastian numbly thought. He didn't realize how dark it was. Or the fact he was covered in a cold sweat.  
Dr. Kimiko's small asian frame filled his doorway. "Are you feeling any better? The last time I checked up on you, you were tossing and turning..."  
Sebastian nodded.  
"I don't mean to be rude, but you're not out of the woods yet." Said the doctor emotionless.  
A lost expression came across Sebastian face and Kimiko explained farther.  
"You need to find and capture the man who killed your grandfather. If not capture him, kill him."

Chapter 3

"Excuse me? I do chemistry, not killing people."  
"Sebastian, your grandfather left a will, leaving his inventions to certain institutions," Stated Dr. Kimiko, "But, you know that I am your grandfather's closest friend and colleague. His last words were instructions for you and me. He was telling me something he could write down, in fear that someone might alter its contents."  
The words she was saying were true.  
Dr. Kimiko had been the closest thing he had to a mother. She had been in his life as far as he remembered, and had been with his grandfather every step of the way with any experiment.  
"What were his 'instructions'?" Sebastian asked. He half dreaded what was needed to be said. At the same time he was eager. He had always hung onto every word his grandfather heeded; yet dreaded them, knowing that they wouldn't be the complete description.  
Clearing her thought slightly "He wanted me to help you as far as I could. But he told me to fill you in as much as I could."  
"And how far is that?"  
"He stated that you had seen his 'heart'. It was just that. A robotic heart." Pausing for a second, she continued "He had finally perfected a robot. An android, if you will. I am to help you get Donald up and started and he will help you with your task."  
Lifting his hands to have her hold on. "Ok, I can believe that he made a robot. But don't you think someone will notice if I have a metal man with me, and who is Donald?"  
Giving him a sad smile, "You should know your grandfather's abilities by now."  
After a moment of no indication of what she was talking about, Kimiko explained. "The android, Donald, has a sort of hologram device that allows it to project a human image to allow it to blend in with society."  
"Are you telling me my grandfather gave an invention of his a name?" Sebastian asked incredulously.  
"Oh yes. Donald E. Tricen."  
"Can I rename him?"  
"No. Now let me finish his instructions. I'm only going to tell you once." Dr. Kimiko said with a bit of irritation in her voice. "He wants you to take one of your bottles with that chemical you created that can dissolve aluminum. He says you'll know what to do with it when the time comes."  
Checking her watch, she started thinking hard. Then said that she would continue explaining things while they walked down to the lab. The sound of their voices and footfalls sounded off the hallway walls with the slightest echo.  
"Now, I'm sure you were wondering what your grandfather's latest invention is." Sebastian nodded.  
"There was a theory that in was possible to go back in time. Time travel. That was a theory that had proved to be physically and technologically impossible."  
"Are you saying he managed it?"  
"Please don't interrupt me." she said sharply. They were walking to the elavators to go to the underground lab. "But yes, he not only managed it, but perfected it.  
He managed it almost two decades ago. Along with creating the time travel device, he also made a form of a shield to prevent change to certain items if one was to go travel in time and alter history."  
The elevators doors opened. They walked in and Dr. Kimiko pushed the button to go to the lowest level.  
"Anyways, he made one for each of your family member, including you. He also made one for his self and Donald." The doors closed and the cabin started to sink deep into the ground.  
"What you have to do now is get Donald, and get to the surface with your supplies in the next hour."  
"What? Why the next hour?! What if I don't?" Asked Sebastian. The deep panic from his childhood started to bubble slightly from deep within him.  
"Professor Dakota was transporting his time traveling machine when he and the rest of the security team were ambushed and killed. They took the device and left for a different time. What time in history, I'm not sure.  
The professor notified me immediately and gave me instructions."  
The doors opened and Kimiko walked out but Sebastian just stood there.  
"So let me get this strait. I have a chip thing in me that will allow me to be impervious to history altering events. He implanted it in me when I was a baby."  
"Correct."  
"And now I have to travel back to god knows what time in history to capture my grandfathers' murder and do what?"  
"Can we continue into the lab? I'll explain, but so far, you're correct." Sebastian continued after Dr. Kimiko. She put in the security code and continued their trek.  
"What you need to do is go back in time, get the machine back, and try to prevent damaging the time/space fabric."  
Sebastian stopped by machine, to have Dr. Kimiko turn and look at him in disbelief.  
"What is it this time?"  
"I do chemistry! Not physics!" Cried out Sebastian.  
"The physics is taken care of, all you have to do is reposes the machine." Dr. Kimiko said. She then walk a short distance away and started typing a series of numbers till the contraptions doors opened to reveal a man sized man of metal.  
"I want you to meet Donald E. Tricen."

Chapter 4

After about 20 minutes of flipping a few switches and connecting a few wires, Donald was up and running. The first words that came of the robot: "I live!"  
Both Sebastian and Dr. Kimiko rolled their eyes.  
"Famous first words, 'I live'," Sebastian said sarcastically ", what are going to be your famous last words? 'Dead end'?"  
"Nope." Replied the robot in a very human voice. "I was thinking; stupid is, as stupid does."  
It was now the Dr. Kimiko's turn to laugh. Sebastian turned pink in the cheeks with embarrassment.  
"Ok now boys, back to business. You two have only about 30 minutes left."  
Sebastian asked "30 minutes till what?"  
Robot "30 minutes till the fabric of the universe plucks us to a different time because of the disruption of Warp."  
The robots voice was so real sounding. It seemed wrong that such a human voice was coming out of a walking man of metal. Maybe it wasn't wrong, but it diffidently wasn't what he was used to.  
Just as Sebastian was going to ask what Warp was, Dr. Kimiko answered "Warp is the name of the device that allows someone to make time transfers."  
"Ok. Fine. Great. More physics stuff that goes right over my head." Said Sebastian slightly sarcastic, getting over his previous embarrassing moment. Suddenly remembering the schedule "Aren't we supposed to gather some gear or something?"  
"Oh, yes. Thank you for reminding me." Dr. Kimiko said as she nervously glanced at her watch. "Donald, will you please get the equipment that the professor programmed you to get?"  
"Of course." The android turned, almost gracefully on what would be a heel, and went off into the lab.  
Sebastian watched the robot go. He was fascinated on how well his grandfather's machinery worked. Kimiko was right; his grandpa was one of a kind.  
Dr. Kimiko then went to the very table top his grandfather had been working on, the last place he saw his grandfather alive. Sitting on the table, she grabbed a liter sized bottle with a dull green liquid.  
Sebastian recognized it right away. It was his greatest invention yet. A liquid that evaporated on air contact, and had a highly corrosive effect on aluminum. Judging by the solid color of the fluid, it was the undiluted version.  
What really made this chemical amazing, was that is affected nothing else. Just aluminum.  
"Sebastian, your grandfather wanted you to take this with you. Like I stated earlier, he said when the moment came, you would know what to do with it."  
"But why? It only works on aluminum. Besides, aluminum wasn't even mass produced till the past 40 years." Sebastian argued.  
Giving him a disapproving look "Those were your grandfathers last requests." Dr. Kimiko handed him the bottle which he held in his hand.  
Just as Sebastian started to feel the emotion build up inside of him, he saw a man walking toward them wearing a brown backpack.  
"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Shouted out, startling Doctor Kimiko, who had her back turned to that direction.  
"What?" replied that to realistic voice that came from the android earlier, "Is that the sort of respect you give your Uncle Donald?"  
Oh yeah, thought Sebastian, hologram.  
"Thank you Donald." Said Doctor Kimiko. She then took the bag and handed it to Sebastian after a few moments. He stuck the bottle in the side pocket. "Now let's get above ground. We haven't got forever."

The sun was now almost completely set. Only a small sliver of the sun still poked over the trees. The few wispy clouds were bathed in a rich red glow. Farther from the sun, the sky faded into a purple. And farther from that, blue.  
It was breath taking. It reminded him of the life altering day. The day his grandfather adopted him.  
"You two are going to have expect the most unexpected sights and things." Dr. Kimiko said, breaking the magical spell the sky had casted.  
"Will do," Donald said right away.  
Sebastian wasn't quite sure of what to think of Donald yet. Something about Donald gave him the creeps. Perhaps it was the fact he looked and acted human, though it wasn't.  
Kimiko looked down at her watch again. She looked sadden. Her eyes almost wanted to say something, yet she couldn't bring herself to say it. Was it the fact that she was never going to see me again? Or was it something deeper?  
Looking at her watch, "Good lu-" she was saying and just then, the whole world shimmered and vanished.

Chapter 5

In an instant, with no bang or flash, everything just changed. The woman he was looking at while she was talking to him had simply vanished and turned into shrubbery. In fact, not only had she changed, but so did everything. The fading light was the same, getting darker and darker every passing moment, but everything else had changed.  
Sebastian turned slowly, observing his surroundings, taking a mental stock of what had happened.  
Reaching up, he pinched himself on his arm. The dream he had had just hours ago seemed so real, he just had to make sure this wasn't one as well.  
Sebastian looked at Donald. The robot now was in it's truest for; as a robot.  
Donald, not only seemed strange just because he sounded exactly like a human, but now he even looked more strange. Amidst the foliage, you had a man of metal. Under normal circumstances, Sebastian probably would have laughed at the absurdity.  
"Camp would be an ideal for you."  
Without a word, Sebastian set down his bag and sought out dry wood for fuel. The shock of everything that happened seemed to make Sebastian's thoughts keep to the minimal.  
The simple posses of wood collecting went fast. The heavily wooded area was covered with plenty of burnable sticks.  
Even though the process was quick, it was soon pitching black before all the wood was collected.  
Sebastian had just bent down and started rubbing two sticks together, just as he had seen done before, when Donald spoke. "And that is going to achieve what?"  
"I'm trying to get a fire started." Sweat was already starting to appear on his skin for his exertion. "I really don't want to be cold tonight."  
The hologram appeared over Donald, just to show a smirk, "Never thought of checking your bag, have you?"  
Frustration was starting to boil up inside of him. So far the damned robot had had nothing nice to say to him, coupled with all the events have occurred, his temper was rather short. He decided to just take a few moments to regain his calm.  
After a moment of Sebastian not moving, the android, still in its human form, went to the bag. Within a few seconds, it withdrew a lighter.  
Sebastian stepped away to let the robot through.  
Moving to the teepee of wood they had constructed, Donald lit a couple of twigs. He continued by placing a few larger twigs, then small sticks, and so on as they caught. it did it until the fire was burning brightly and popping nicely, producing a bone warming heat.  
The warmth felt good to Sebastian. His hostile feeling to Donald subsided enough for him to thank Donald.  
After staring into the fire, Sebastian realized there was probably still more items of use in his pack that he would need to use. It would be good to know where the things are in case of an actual emergency.  
Sitting down next to the bag and unzipped, he slowly pulled the items of the bag.  
A flashlight, the bottle filled with his creation, a sleeping bag, compass, a small supple of food, a knife, some black colored nylon rope, a leather pouch of water, and some weird earthy colored rags the guessed were meant to be clothing.  
Sebastian had pulled everything out and was starting to put everything else back, except for the sleeping bag which he promptly unrolled, when he noticed a neatly folded piece of paper. He grabbed it, and climbed into it the bag.  
He figured it was instructions of a sort, or perhaps a warning.  
When he unfolded it. It read:

Dear Sebastian,  
In case you can't recognize the hand writing, it's Dr. Kimiko. If you are reading this, you have obviously gone through everything in your pack. Use what you have been given wisely.  
I have a few warnings to give you. Heed them wisely.  
You can NOT go back to the time you once knew. You are stuck in whatever time are currently in unless you can retrieve the warp.  
Also, this is real life. just because you have a time-altering prohibitor in you, doesn't mean you are invulnerable. You can die, so try not to.  
One last warning and trust me on this. Donald will do everything in his abilities to keep you safe and alive.  
But Professor Dakota also put in Donald's programming some programs I am not sure of. One thing I do know is that Donald will self destruct shortly after all other objects have been completed or if he is unable to get out of captivity. So, get away from him as soon as you get the warp back.  
Lastly, I want to say I am so proud of how you have turned out. I had never had any children of my own, and I see you as my son. I only wish I had told you this sooner.  
Love,  
Dr. Kimiko

Sebastian read it, more shocked than what he had been before he read it.  
As the shock started subside, emotion filled in the empty space it left.  
Dr. Kimiko, his grandfather's assistant, had never showed such feelings toward him as she had done in this letter. She had always been stern with him, especially in studies, but was always just when doing so. She had been there ever step of the way, even attending his science fairs when his grandfather couldn't. Never, not until now, did he realize what she was to him and how much he missed her.  
Tears he thought he had already cried had started to well up in his eyes again. Rolling onto his stomach, Sebastian cried into his arms.  
Why did he have to lose everything that was close to him? What did he do to deserve it? What does he even have to live for now?  
Avenge. That was his current purpose in life now. At this moment, his sole purpose was to hunt down the man that killed his grandfather, and inevertinanly killed his would be mother.  
Silently before he fell asleep, Sebastian made a solemn vow to the stars that he was going to do what he had to, and not stop until the deed was done. He would start his quest first thing in the morning.

Chapter 6

The sun rose the next morning without fail. It rose like a new hope for a better beginning. And that's exactly what it was; a new beginning, for the day at least.  
Sebastian slept, but it wasn't peacefully. Troubled thoughts kept crossing his exhausted mind the entire night, which prohibited his ability to sleep deeply. It was either that, or being in a new place that was doing it.  
The rising sun's orange rays bounced off of Donald's metallic body.  
Donald himself was standing as still as an immovable mountain.  
"Can you move?"  
"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Responded Donald, turning to look at Sebastian.  
"Well," Sebastian started to feel a little silly for worrying about a robot, "I thought you were rusted to the spot, and that's why you weren't moving."  
The robot started to laugh. For some reason, the laugh was so warm and welcoming; Sebastian couldn't help but smile a bit.  
"I'm made of aluminum just so I don't rust. Professor Dakota made me for the sole purpose of being for all terrain usage." Donald said matter of factly. After a moment, he added "Also, I'm not very good at conducting electricity. Wouldn't want to be walking around with a giant lightning rod, would you?"  
It was now Sebastian turn to laugh.  
After his laughter faded away, Sebastian went about changing into his new clothes which were packed in the bag. He also rolled his sleeping sack, and put that in his bag.  
His clothes that were packed simple at most. The trousers were an overall brown color, with a hue of green in it, and a well worn rope was used as a form of a belt. His tunic, which was a faded leaf green, was large and had a pointed cap.  
I hope this wasn't meant to be camouflage. If so, it's one really sad attempt, thought Sebastian.  
"Ok," Said Sebastian, breaking the silence. "Here is what I'm thinking: We starting by walking in one direction until we find civilization or a road that will lead to civilization. Once we do find people, we have to try to acquire information about anyone that's just arrived to the area besides us and find where they are. How does that sound to you?"  
The robot, now in human form and in similar attire to Sebastian, shrugs "It sounds great if you want to spend a bunch of time lost in the forest."  
"And what would you suggest, think tank?"  
"Well, I think I could leave you here and go that direction where there is civilization and leave you here to find it yourself it wasn't against my programming" Donald said smoothly, without missing a beat.  
Sebastian glared at Donald. Donald looked so much like a human. Exactly. In fact, he looked like a very average human. Brown hair, grey/brown eyes, and an average height.  
Without another word, Sebastian picked up his sack, slung it onto his shoulders, and started off in the direction the android had pointed to.  
Picking their way through the thick bushes, they made their way to where Sebastian hoped was civilization.  
It was rather easy going with only minimum strain on Sebastian legs. They were going down the side of a mountain side the entire time.  
That was until they broke through the forest area and entered the more tamed terrain. It was only hilly where they would be walking.  
Before long, they were passing fields of corn and other crops. At the top of one of the hills, a peak of castle could be seen. They would probably be getting to some farm huts.  
"So, have you any idea how you're going to information from these people?" Asked Donald.  
"I was thinking a want ad in the local newspaper, a public request, or something of that nature." Sebastian responded immediately. After glancing at Donald's expression he was creating, he stopped and turned to Donald. "Ok, what would your programming tell you to do?"  
"Logic seems to fail you, doesn't it?" Donald asked.  
"I do chemistry, not computers or physics!" cried out Sebastian. "Why can't people get that through their heads?"  
"Computers and physics have nothing to do with logic. Logic is a concept all its own."  
"Whatever. What do you suggest we do?"  
After what seemed a moments thought, "How about this idea. We go to a locals dwelling, say we are travels from a distant land, and are we curious about the local news."  
"Sounds good to me. Simple and easy to remember."  
They both fell silent as they continued their trek. Sebastian couldn't help but notice how normal sounding Donald's footsteps were. He expected a man made of metal to make some loud treading noises, but the footfalls were no louder than his own.  
Being lost in thought pasted the time faster than he expected. He had realized, with a start, that they were approaching a farm house  
The first two things he couldn't but notice was that there was a bunch of sheep fenced in by the barn like dwelling. The second was that there was one sheep that wasn't.  
As they approached the property, Sebastian made a move toward the animals. It made no resistance of his approach; it merely sat and chewed on another mouthful of grass.  
"We should probably take this animal to the people of this house," Sebastian said. "After all, they probably don't want to lose it, right?"  
"Makes sense to--"  
"Stop sheep thief!" cut into Donald's words before he could finish his statement.  
As Sebastian turned to the sound of the voice, he registered a faint whistling sound before he felt a bunch of pain and the world dimmed.

Chapter 7

His mom and dad were crying. Sebastian stood there watching.  
Is this another dream? Sebastian thought. He was watching, like an unseen spirit. Watching from an ominous view.  
His mom was crying in his dad's arms. They were sitting on the couch. Sister was sitting in her favorite rocking chair. She was slowly rocking herself, crying mournfully in her own arms, head down.  
Sebastian felt the sadness in the room, yet he could only feel confusion coming from himself, his younger self.  
This was a memory he had forgotten, a memory long since past.  
The younger Sebastian was just sitting down, imagining a of different things, like what it was to be a bug. He didn't know why the older people were upset.  
After a short time, Sebastian could feel the change in his younger self. Concern started creep into his thoughts. All the younger Sebastian wanted was for everyone to not cry because it was making him sad too.  
Then, in the concern, there was another change. This time, it was confusion.  
What am I confused about? Sebastian thought. And why is everyone crying?  
The younger Sebastian stood then and walked to his mother and father. He placed his head on his mother's leg. "Mommy, where is brother?"

"He's right here." Said a soft female voice. The voice itself sounded kind, yet very far away. Almost as if it was being spoken from a long tunnel.  
Before any conscious thoughts could pass through Sebastian head, an immediate throbbing started.  
Sebastian moaned in protest to the pain. With the pain, his other senses started to function.  
He was lying down with his eyes closed. Even with his eyes closed, he could still tell it was light out. It felt rather lumpy on whatever he was laying on, and smelled heavily of animals. Yet the one thing he noticed the most, was the throbbing pain in his head.  
"Your brother is right here sir." Said the lovely female voice.  
Sebastian slowly opened his eyes, blinded at first, and then slowly things came into focus. He saw Donald, on his one side, a young boy standing cross armed in leaning against the inside of the doorframe of the barn.  
Then source of the voice came into sight.  
"He's probably still a bit confused with that attach on his head." Donald said.  
"I told you, I'm sorry already. I thought he was the sheep thief!" whined the voice at the doorway.  
"Elliot," scorned the girl, "You know you should have let father take care of it. Besides, mother says you're going to hurt the wrong person with that sling. And look what happened!"  
"Please don't mother and father Brook" Whined the boy named Elliot.  
"Don't you worry about me telling, you have to talk to Donald and his brother Sebastian." Brook said.  
Through the whole conversation that transpired, Sebastian couldn't take his eyes, which were perfectly focused, off of Brook.  
"I want you to go and stay out of trouble." Brook directed. "And you Donald, would you be willing to part with your brother to get me some honeysuckle and boil it to make a tea?"  
"Not at all." Donald replied and got up and promptly left. The boy named Elliot had left immediately after his sister's advice.  
Tearing his eyes off of Brook, Sebastian absorbed more of his surroundings.  
He was in fact in a barn. From what he could tell, there was hay underneath his makeshift bed.  
After shifting his position, which made his head throb only the slightest bit, he saw there were two horses in stalls. Beside the stall was a wagon.  
By his guessing, Sebastian figured this wasn't a very well to do farm family.  
"I'm really sorry about my brother." Brook spoke softly. "Someone has been taking sheep from our pen for a few days now. My brother is very protective over the animals."  
"I understand." Sebastian manages to speak.  
Sebastian was entranced by Brooks' appearance. Her round eyes were a soft brown that seemed to e able to catch all the light in the room.  
Besides her eyes, her smile made Sebastian's heart beat a bit faster.  
Sebastian also couldn't help but notice how Brooks' hair fell over one shoulder and gave her a rather seductive look. She also appeared to be around his age.  
"You're staring." Brook said blushing.  
It was now Sebastian turn to blush. He turned to look out the door.  
So many things were running through Sebastian's head. He tried thinking of some plan to find his grandfathers murderer, but the image of the girls sitting beside him kept popping in his thoughts.  
"So where are you from?"  
Turning away from the door, "From a far away land."  
"That's what your brother said."  
A thought came to his head. "Yeah, we're traveling to find someone."  
"Who's that?" Brook asked, looking a bit perplexed.  
"Another one of our brothers." Sebastian lied immediately.  
"And you think he came through this area?"  
Sebastian shrugged.  
"Well, besides Donald and you, there has only been one new person."  
Getting excited now, Sebastian sat up. "And did you see this person?"  
"Well, no." Brook looked down a bit disappointed. "My cousin Jean came to visit me from the city, because there was some young gentleman that was newly announced as the king's newest advisor."  
"Oh," Slightly disappointed, Sebastian thought that the person they were after might not even be in this town. After all, who knows what this guy had taken with his into the past. Worse yet, what kind weapons he could have brightened.  
Still slightly let down at the news "So, the only news is that some guy is on the kings court?"  
"No, that's not what I said!" Brook said both excited and confused. "The guy had just arrived a few days ago out of no where and asked to see the king. After meeting with his Majesty, the king immediately appointed him to his court. There was a big public announcement about it."  
The excitement was building up again. This had to be the guy they were after.  
Laying back down, Sebastian head started buzzing on all the things he needed to tell Donald. More importantly, Sebastian started to think of a plan on capturing the murderous fiend.  
Sebastian caught himself off-guard, staring at Brook. She was biting her bottom lip. It almost looked like she was debating something deep in her mind.  
Brook then slowly started to move toward his face, her eyes were closed. It took Sebastian only a split second to realize she was about to kiss him.  
Just then, Donald walked into the barn. "I did just as you had asked Brook."  
Brook pulled away sharply blushing a deep scarlet. "Thank you Donald."  
She took the honeysuckle tea from Donald and handed it to Sebastian. "You and your brother can stay here. I'll tell mother and father we'll be having company for a short while."  
"Thank you for your hospitality." Donald said as she got up and left the barn.  
Sebastian laid there glaring at Donald.  
Donald then turned to Sebastian, "Did I miss anything?"

Chapter 8

The arrival of Brook's and Elliot's father, Ignus, was a tense one. Not for Sebastian and Donald, but rather for Elliot. Elliot had to explain to his father what he had done.  
Much to Elliot's relief, Sebastian insisted that he was not upset and there was no need for him to be punished. Sebastian and Donald later found out that Ignus would have had Elliot work with him in the field for a week.  
Much to Sebastian's and Donald's surprise, the Schlock family was very generous. Ignus stated during diner that they could reside in the barn. Donald was able to make an excuse that had found something to eat prior and was not hungry at the moment.  
What surprised Sebastian more than anything was how intelligent the family was.  
Ignus was a farmer who tended to fields, while Kay worked for a rich aristocratic family in the city.  
Each member of the family, though busy with their day to day lives and chores, had a very free and open mind to other things. Sebastian supposed they did to keep themselves entertained while doing the same mundane jobs everyday.  
Kay had the art of botany, Ignus the knowledge of psychology, Elliot the talent of physics, and Brook had the genius of invention.  
Upon asking Brook after diner, she explained that each member of the family had contributed to their well-being in some way or another.  
Though the sun hung inches above the horizon, Sebastian and Donald were given extra quilts and shown where to sleep in the barn.  
That time alone with Donald was what he was hoping for. He needed to tell Donald everything he had found out so they could formulate their next move.  
As both Donald and Sebastian had lain down to 'sleep', Sebastian told the robot everything he had learned.  
Donald had brought up the point that the murderer could have brought some modern technology and amazed the king. Perhaps that is how the newcomer had earned the status on the king's court.  
It was also a possibility Donald pointed out, that the new arrival could have threatened the king with this technology. The only reason why the king put on the court was out of fear. Or fear for his family.  
There wasn't any way Sebastian or Donald could think of to meet this advisor, than was to request a visit with the king himself.  
As Sebastian turned over to go to sleep, he turned back over and stared at Donald lying on his side, appearing to be sleeping.  
"Won't your batteries run out?" Sebastian decided to ask. The sun was now under the horizon, and only the after glow of the sun painted the sky in an orange hue.  
Turning over to look at Sebastian, "Not at all."  
"Why not?" Questioned Sebastian.  
"What, you want them to?" Donald joked. Then he replied seriously, "Professor Dakota had created a long life battery, one that would allow me to function with a hologram for a few years."  
Ah, thought Sebastian. That makes since.  
They each rolled over back to where they had been. The only thing was, Sebastian couldn't seem to fall asleep.  
He was very comfortable where he lying. The warmth of the family that had taken them in made him feel secure. yet there was something that wouldn't let him sleep.  
Perhaps, in the back of his head, he was afraid of what he had to do.  
I have got to relax, get some sleep.  
A smile then came to Sebastian's face. A thought that made him smile and feel warm against the chill of the night air. An image of Brook came to his mind.  
She had a nice figure, a brilliant smile, and her eyes held him in rapture.  
He couldn't help but think about the moment they shared, how they had almost kissed. He wanted to say something sweet to her, or sweep her off her feet.  
But he knew nothing of romance.  
Drowsiness was taking over. Dreams started to infiltrate his conscious. And they were the most amazing dreams he was having.

Chapter 9

Sebastian lay wrapped in a warm blanket of content thoughts. Pure relaxation throughout every muscle. Not a care in the world. Almost as if He had reached Nirvana itself.  
All that comfort and pleasure disappeared in a single second. Like hot coals being doused with water.  
That was what it actually was. Donald had just thrown a bucket of water on Sebastian's head.  
Sputtering "What the hell is that for? I'm not on fire; you don't need to do that!"  
Donald, laughing his laugh, "Well, if you would had gotten up like everyone else, we wouldn't have this problem."  
Sebastian tried being angry, but he was shivering too hard.  
Taking one of the quilts he had been sleeping on, one that was also dry, he dried himself off as much as he could.  
"So, now that we're all up sleeping beauty, are we going to get on our way to the castle?" Asked Donald.  
"But I'm hungry," objected Sebastian.  
Donald sighed and handed a chuck of bread and a strip of dried jerky. "These were brought for both of us for breakfast. Of course you wouldn't know that. You were sleeping."  
Sebastian decided not to dignify Donald with a response, but rather took the food and started to eat it.  
While all this transpired, Sebastian had dried off and had readied himself.  
Both Donald and Sebastian left the barn, walking the wagon beaten road to the city.  
The morning was warm, making Sebastian think it was going to get much warmer later on in the day.  
As they traveled, they went up and down each steady hill, gradually inching closer to their destination.  
It wasn't long till Sebastian noted that the dwellings they were passing got closer and closer. And that they were seeing more and more of the castle.  
Soon they weren't just seeing the castle spires, but the castle wall turrets. Then the outer castle walls.  
Not only were the houses getting closer, but significantly larger as well.  
So many people were milling to and fro. They weren't even inside the castle walls yet.  
They were passing assorted tents with their verity of goods for sale.  
One merchant was yelling out that he had fine silks, while another cried out that he was selling the tastiest meats.  
To Sebastian, it seemed just like a modern day city, yet in the old fashion times. It really astounded him that people were driven and acted the same well before his very existence.  
It wasn't long before he had to actually be careful to where he stepped. Even with a crowd this large, some merchants brought their animals and carts.  
Sebastian started to realize as he got closer to the opened gates to the inner walls, the crowd was packing in closer together.  
Looking up before he passed through the gates, he saw the kingdoms crest on an orange flag. Also, he saw some mean looking men with bows.  
The archers themselves were scanning the crowds looking for any suspicious behavior.  
"Look at this place," Donald said.  
Sebastian did the only thing he could think of doing: gape.  
On each side of the road, had stores of every kind just like in shopping plazas. It really was the modern world, in the past.  
As they past many shops, the crowd started to thin out. Not only that, but the elegant houses increased the closer the got to the actual castle.  
"Do you think we have to pay to see the king and his council?" Sebastian asked Donald after he noticed there was a line of people passing in front of some mean looking guards.  
Donald shrugged. "Even if we did, I would just make some money."  
"Ok, I'm the chemist here, and I know that you can not make gold." Sebastian stated matter of factly. It felt good that his chemistry knowledge was finally coming of use since this whole adventure began.  
How long ago was that now? It seemed like weeks ago to him.  
"I wasn't planning on making real gold, just currency that looked and felt like it." Donald said right back.  
The line they were standing in slowly shrank and they moved ever so closer to getting their answers.  
Sebastian's heart was starting to beat faster. They were a few places till they would be passing the guards.  
"Okay everyone, the king and his court are tired. They will resume asking your questions tomorrow." A guard yelled firmly out to the expecting crowd, which moaned and started to retreat.  
"Well, that was a waste of time and energy." Sebastian stated.  
"Not entirely." Donald contradicted.  
"Prove me wrong then." Sebastian challenged.  
Donald pointed to a pub and then started in its direction.  
Sighing deeply, Sebastian followed. He couldn't let his protector get lost, his grandfather would kill him.  
That thought made him pause slightly.  
Sebastian walked in the doors after Donald and thought he h walked into a foggy night.  
Smoke filled the air of this pub and because of the smoke, there was little light coming in from the windows. The large amount of smoke made his throat itch with dislike.  
Sebastian followed Donald to the counter to the bartender.  
"Want something?" The bartender grunted.  
"Only if you're able to tell me anything about this new council man on the king's court." Donald prompted.  
The bartender's bushy eyebrows rose higher over his watery eyes. "Never been asked that one before."  
Donald said nothing. Sebastian waited beside Donald, looking back and forth between the two of them.  
Sebastian couldn't think of how convincing Donald was. He passed for a human perfectly. So well, that he sometimes forgot that Donald was a man of metal.  
The bartender finally sighed. "I honestly know nothing of him really. All I know is that he showed up a couple days ago, talked to the king, and was put on his majesties advisory council."  
"Nothing else?" Sebastian prompted.  
The bartender turned and looked at Sebastian for the first time.  
"Other than I had to make a mid-month wine delivery and a couple more of my courtesans were wanted for their talents, nope."  
"What do those things have to do with information about the new advisor?" Donald asked.  
"Yeah," piped in Sebastian, "And what is his name?"  
Sebastian realized they had pushed it too far with the man.  
The bartender leaned forward and whispered menacingly "Listen, I don't have to tell you shit. I should be asking you why you're asking so many questions."  
"We're new to this area and there has been much talk of this new guy. We are only curious." Donald said smoothly.  
Sebastian stood there nervously, waiting to run at the first sign of trouble.  
The bartender then sighed again and appeared to relax. Rubbing his temples with his fingertips he said almost too quietly to be heard. "The demand of wine and woman were at the request of the new advisor."  
"Thank you for your time. Apologies if we were to rude." Donald said, turned and then left.  
Once outside, Sebastian started to feel better. He didn't like that place and hoped he would never have to go in there again.  
"I think we should get home," Donald suggested  
Sebastian couldn't agree more. He wanted to go where he didn't feel so vulnerable.  
"Where are you two rushing off to?" Asked a guard.  
It was only then did Sebastian realize he was walking pretty fast and Donald was keeping pace with him. It must have looked suspicious to the guard.  
"We need to get back to our house and finish our chores before our uncle gets home." Donald said promptly.  
Sebastian's stomach felt weak. He wasn't sure if it was from being interrogated or by Donald.  
There were times when he would completely forget the fact he is a robot, but then there were times he was distinctly aware of what he is. Sebastian couldn't help but note that Donald lied with ease, which unnerved him more than the situation.  
"And who is your uncle?" Questioned the guard.  
"Schlock," Donald said, "Ignus Schlock. It's nearing the wood, on the outskirts of the farming community."  
"Thank you. Now behave yourselves. I don't want to have to deal with you two again." The guard said and his eyes went on scanning the crowd.  
"Mind if we know your name, sir?" Donald asked politely.  
The guard not taking his eyes from scanning the crowd replied it was Dartanian.  
With that, Donald and Sebastian left and headed home.

Chapter 10

"I don't think that was right."  
"If they had decidedly taken us, we would be in their prison." Donald said. "And I don't think we would be able to accomplish much if we are captive."  
"It still doesn't make it right!" Sebastian said.  
Donald and Sebastian had gotten out of the city without further issues.  
The trip seemed much longer from the city than it was to it.  
Sebastian didn't know why, but he felt greatly uneasy around Donald. He was sure that the robot had a programming that would enable him to lie, but to betray people. Or was he just imagining things?  
The trip was the same to the city, but in reverse. The buildings got smaller, less luxurious and numerous.  
It was warmer out too. The sun seemed less directly above and more at an angle.  
Perhaps this trip was less pleasant because of the heat. Or maybe it was because Sebastian was hungry. Either way, his blood was boiling.  
Besides the initial talk on the trek 'home', Sebastian and Donald hadn't exchange any words.  
As they approached the house, Sebastian noted that Elliot was out in meadow with the sheep, apparently talking to them.  
Sebastian decided to go to the house. He wanted to get out of the sun and didn't want to endure the smell of horse and hay. Donald departed to the meadow.  
Sebastian opened the door, and the first thing that greets him is a soft humming.  
The humming was very melodic and pleasing on the ears. It wasn't a tune he recognized, but it was one that cooled his temperament.  
Brook was the one, in her own world, hummed her melody.  
She was bent over a bucket filled with what appeared to be grey colored water, washing clothing.  
Sebastian walked up behind her, not saying a word. He doubted she heard him, she was too preoccupied.  
"Lovely tune," Sebastian said softly.  
The reaction was a comical one. Brook let out a sudden shriek and at that the moment, jumped up off of her stool she was sitting on.  
The end result; she came down on her stool crooked, fell off of it, hit the bucket of cleaning water, splashed it all over herself, and looked completely embarrassed and flabbergasted.  
"I hope you're happy!" Brook said indignantly as Sebastian laughed. Her cheeks were a bright scarlet.  
Sebastian couldn't stop laughing. The more embarrassed she got, the harder he laughed. It wasn't long, before she was caught up in his laughter.  
After a few more minutes, they both had stopped.  
"So, what were your achievements for the day?" Brook asked. She was once again on her stool.  
"Donald and I went to the city," Sebastian replied casually.  
Brook's eyebrows perked up. "Really?"  
"Yeah."  
"What for?"  
"Is this twenty-one questions?" Sebastian joked. The look on Brooks face made him cough lightly and he continued, "We went to request a visiting with his majesty and his advisors."  
"The advisors?"  
Sebastian could feel the blood rush to his cheeks a little as he nodded.  
"Why am I a little upset you're so interested in the kings advisors and not into other things?" Brook asked. Sebastian thought it was a bit odd that her cheeks had gained more blush with that comment.  
There was an awkward silence that followed.  
After Sebastian was unable to say anything of interest, he decided it was time to go to the barn.  
Donald was already there, just sitting there.  
"Where's my bag?" Sebastian asked.  
Donald had said that when he was knocked unconscious, he had taken his bag and hid it under the hay. He didn't want the contents of the bag to be found by the locals. Donald said that it would be bad.  
"But there's nothing that is unnatural in the bag," Sebastian objected.  
"And what about the flashlight?" Donald asked. After Sebastian said nothing, Donald continued. "Let's not forget the nylon rope. And last time I checked, they don't make knives with this much skill."  
Sebastian hung his head to the side. "Ok, your point is well taken."  
"Thanks!"  
Sebastian walked around the barn and inspected his surroundings. On the wall had varies hammers, blades, and other tools.  
Brook had brought Sebastian and Donald some food. It consisted of a vegetable stew with smalls chunks of meat.  
As time wore on, the sun started to set. Elliot came out and herded the sheep closer to the house, where they laid down.  
As time still wore on, the sun in its entirety was below the horizon. All of it, except for a small sliver.  
Sebastian felt restless. Donald was already laying down 'sleeping'.  
"I'm going to go for a walk, Don." Sebastian said. He had no idea why he called the robot Don, but he didn't put too much thought into it.  
Sebastian started walking toward the woods. He had always preferred meadows, but the woods would suit him well enough.  
There was a small trail that wound through the vegetation, man made.  
The moon light came through the gaps in the leaves in shafts.  
The shafts of light seemed romantic and poetic to him. For some reason, just the sight of them sounded like music. There was no audible music but the chorus of insects, but rather the music that seem to come from his very soul.  
There were times when he was going over a hill; there would be enough of a break in the branches and leaves, that he could see the next hills' foliage basked in a soft silver lighting.  
Sebastian wasn't sure how long he had been walking, but he eventually heard noise. He couldn't recognize it.  
As he walked closer to the source, he saw what it was just as he recognized it by sound; it was the flow of a small river.  
Sitting on a large rock the was on the bank of the creek, Sebastian couldn't help but think about everything that had happened.  
It seemed like years ago now that his grandfather had passed on, and Dr. Kimiko had given him his grandpas dying words of avenging his death. It all seemed so long ago, even though it was what, a couple days?  
He and the android thing had been with this generous family for only a couple days, yet it felt so much longer, like he had known them from a young age.  
I love my grandpa very much, thought Sebastian, But here, with the Schlock family, it's like a part of me is complete. Like I belongs here.  
Sebastian's thoughts were interrupted by another noise.  
A faint rustle of dead leaves on the ground. And then a twig snapped.  
Sebastian drew out his knife he had brought incase the need to defend himself arose.  
The bushes next the walk path rustled again.  
What came out made his heart beat madly with relief.  
"Sorry to sneak up on you like this," Brook said apologetic when she saw the drawn knife. The moon light was caught in her eyes, not in fear, but with a calm.  
Sebastian put the knife away and sat back down. He wanted to say something to her, but he was afraid she would be able to see his red cheeks in the dim light.  
"I was up getting to get a drink when I saw you walking into the wood." Brooks explained as she sat beside Sebastian. "Then when I saw you sitting her on the boulder, I thought I could pay you back by pushing you in the water."  
"Eye for an eye," Sebastian laughed at her scheme.  
"Make the whole world blind." Brook finished solemnly. Then with a smile "But I think it would be okay in this case!"  
With that she grabbed Sebastian by the shoulders and pulled him into the creek.  
The initial shock of being put in the water came just as fast as it went.  
"It's your turn!" Sebastian said.  
Shrieking with delight, she tried to escape Sebastian's grabbing hands, but to no avail. He soon had her in a bear hug from the backside and was taking her to the middle of the water.  
As soon as he got there, he promptly sat down, soaking the both of them from the chest down.  
"You bad boy!" Exclaimed Brook as soon as he had let her go. Instead of trying to get away, she merely sat opposite of Sebastian.  
Finally, Sebastian decided to start with some pleasantries, "Lovely night, don't you agree?"  
Brook only smiled at him. Not a cheesy smile you give for photos, but a genuine and true smile.  
Then it looked as if something started to trouble her.  
"Is something bothering you?" Sebastian asked softly.  
After a moments pause, "There's no way you can stay here aparently, is there?"  
Sighing, "I would truly like to, but my brother and I are here with a purpose. Once that is done, we're going home."  
Biting her bottom lip before continuing, "After you get back to your village, will you come back and stay with us?" Then, after a moment "That is, if you're not spoken for already."  
It took a few seconds for things to presses through Sebastian's head of what she was saying. He was surprised that the water wasn't boiling with how hot his face had gotten.  
Brook moved to sit beside Sebastian. The current in the creek went around them. "It's really romantic out here, isn't it?" She asked while she rested her head on his shoulder.  
Sebastian's heart was pounding. His mind was screaming out, yet he hoped she couldn't hear it. If she did, she acted as if she didn't.  
After a few moments of sitting there, Brook looked up into Sebastian's eyes.  
His heart was beating faster and faster. The moon was caught in the fullest in her eyes, the tiny freckles on here face were visible, the little water droplets the landed on her when the were wrestling. They all made her look so beautiful.  
Brook then leaned in to Sebastian, drawing their faces closer.

Chapter 11

The sun rose, shining with a new brightness.  
Sebastian actually rose with the sun, which Donald conveyed surprise about.  
The night he had spent with Brook filled his heart to the fullest. Nothing could bother Sebastian today. It could rain the entire way to the city, and it would not bother him.  
Brook had come with their breakfast, which consisted of a chunk of bread and last nights stew.  
As Brook gave Sebastian his food, their fingers brushed and they shared a smile. Her eyes still twinkled as they did last night with the moon in them.  
Sebastian checked on his bag, made sure it was hidden under some hay near the wall, and met Donald who was waiting for him to make their way to the castle.  
The trip was the same as the day prior, except for it was more cloud with a slight breeze and there was a lot of bounce in Sebastian's step.  
As they drew closer to the castle, there were crowds of people as before, but not as many. It wasn't long at all till they were waiting to get into the castle itself.  
As they waited in line, panic struck Sebastian.  
"What question are we going to ask them?"  
"I hadn't thought about it." Donald admitted.  
After a moment, Donald gave his answer. "We say we are from a distant land and heard of a sheep thief in this town. We are wondering if we have permission to track down the thieves."  
Sebastian agreed just as they were ushered in by a guard. It didn't look like the same guard that was there yesterday.  
The entirety of the castle floors, which were stone covered, were worn. But there was a path leading the where they needed to go.  
The walls were stone, about sized rocks as the rocks in the floor. On those walls, were bright colored tapestries.  
Along with tapestries, there were weapons of every kind on the walls. Weapons and shields both hung on the walls.  
Acting like immovable sentinels, there were full suits of armor standing erect. A funny thought passed through Sebastian's mind. All he could think about was that Donald was standing in front of his distant family members.  
In this particular room, there were no windows. For a substitute of light, there were torches burning.  
"Bow before your lord and ask your question!" Cried a brightly dressed man near the advisors  
Sebastian looked up at the king, a shrewd and weathered old man. To his right, sat a grey haired wife. To the kings left sat what appeared to be his son.  
Sebastian looked at all the other members sitting with them; the advisors, which were on each side of the queen and future king, had on masks.  
"State your propose peasant or leave!" The announcer cried out again.  
"Our purpose is only of meeting the kings newest advisor." Donald said.  
The king's eyes narrowed. "And for what reason would that be?"  
Donald appearing to be unbothered by the direct question answered, "We have heard so much about him and your fondness to him in our travels, we merely wish meet him."  
The king sat for a moment before he stated in his hoarse voice, "Our newest advisor has no need of casual meetings with lowly peasants like yourselves."  
Sebastian's cheeks burned red with the kings demeaning comment about him.  
With a slight lift of the king's hand, two soldiers came forward and ushered them out of the room.  
Just as they were going around the corner, out of the room, the one advisor closest to the queen summoned a guard to his side.  
Standing outside of the castle "Well, that didn't work out as well as I had hoped." Donald said.  
"Really?! What gave that away?" Sebastian asked. "The fact we were kicked out?"  
"Excuse me gentlemen," A guard approached them. "I was asked the whereabouts you are residing."  
Before Sebastian could lie and say they were just passing through Donald told him the family they were staying with.  
The guard thanked them and went back to the castle.  
Once again alone, Sebastian exploded on Donald "You need to stop telling everyone where we live!"  
"We are here to find the professors killer, not get involved with the people of the past!" Donald retorted.  
Flustered with nothing else to say to the robot, Sebastian decided to leave for the house without it.

Chapter 12

Sebastian had gotten to the Schlock property, went strait to the barn, grabbed his bag hidden under the straw and headed to the woods.  
Not getting very far into the woods, Sebastian found a suitable climbing tree, and made his way up it. He didn't go far up, only about half way.  
Once up there, he pulled off a limb, got his knife from his bag and started to strip the branch.  
First he took off the leaves by hand, and then he started to work on the tiny branches coming off from the main one.  
As soon that job was done, he started to peel all the bark off.  
"Comfy up there?" asked a voice from before him.  
Looking down, Sebastian saw Brook and Elliot standing below him amongst the fruits of his labor.  
"Very, thank you." Sebastian called down. He realized all the anger he had felt prior to that was gone.  
"Mother and father were wondering if you wanted something to eat and if you wanted it up there or down on the ground like normal people." Elliot called.  
Sebastian didn't realize it was already late enough to have Ignus and Kay home.  
"I think I'll be different and have it up here." Sebastian called down to Elliot who started to walk home with his answer.  
Brook watched her brother go and then looked up, "Mind if I join you?"  
By the time Sebastian said yes, she was half way to him.  
"Thanks," Brook said setting herself on the branch closest to him.  
Sebastian took note of Brooks's appearance. She was wearing basically the same clothes as her wore, but different colors.  
Yet there was something that was defiantly different about her, something that made her look more spectacular.  
She had a purple ribbon in her hair, holding it back in a pony tail.  
"So, what's bothering you?" Brook asked.  
Sebastian just shook his head, "You wouldn't understand."  
"Try me."  
"What if I told you I was from the future and my brother isn't really alive?" Sebastian asked.  
"I'd say you'd make a good court jester." Brook said with a laugh.  
Sebastian smiled. Hearing her twinkling laughter made him smile all the more.  
"What's so funny?" Asked Elliot from down below them.  
Even with a huge chunk of bread in his hand, Elliot managed to climb the tree with minimal trouble.  
Once sitting on the same branch as his sister, he tore the bread into three pieces. "I would have gotten a little more for your brother Sebastian, but he's no where to be seen."  
"Is that why you seemed upset? Did you and your brother have a fight?" Brook asked.  
With a mouth full of the warm bread, Sebastian nodded his answer.  
"I'm sorry to hear that." Brook said.  
After that, Sebastian changed the subject. He would ask the two of them questions about their lives and they would share embarrassing stories about themselves.  
It wasn't long till they were called in to go to bed. Apparently they had asked to stay out for a little longer, because they came running out a few minutes after going in. They all were having a good time talking.  
They had asked Sebastian about where he came from and about his life. Sebastian felt terrible for lying to them, but managed to concoct a childhood that they believed.  
The sun had completely sunk below the horizon and there was a slight chill in the air.  
"It's getting late Sebastian; we need to get to bed now." Elliot finally said at last.  
As he started to climb down the tree, Brook pointed out something odd.  
On the road that lead to the Schlock's house, were pinpricks of lights.  
"Those are torches," Elliot said.  
The three of them quickly climbed down the tree, but none went to the house.  
Soon the pinpricks became larger and more could be seen.  
The flames off of the torches, which licked the night air, bounced off of swords, axes, and armor.  
It wasn't long before you could hear the clanking of the armor and the sound of footfalls.  
"What are they doing?" Elliot asked.  
A cold feeling sunk into Sebastian's stomach. "Whatever they're doing, don't say a word or move from this spot."  
Brook agreed and wrapped her arms around her little brother's shoulders and chest.  
The trio stood still in the bushes as the soldiers drew nearer and nearer, until they stopped in front of the Schlock's house.  
Without word, the men without torches ran into the house.  
There was a bunch of banging and bumping. There was a loud crash, one that sounded like china being broken. After a few more minutes, all was silent.  
Sebastian could feel both Brook and Elliot shaking in fear and sadness. His fears were true.  
One by one, the men came out, some holding unknown items. One man walked up to a solider on a horse, who Sebastian assumed was the captain of this team, and then the man on the horse said something, and then the men with torches moved forward.  
"No," Brook whispered, her voice was trembling. Sebastian could see tears streaking down her face from the flames that were now engulfing the house.  
The flames started slow, catching the small things first. The heat started to intensify and the whole of the house was burning. There was almost a slight hint of meat cooking amongst the smell of smoke.  
The whole scene was lit up. The leader of the men pointed at the barn and the same routine happened as it did with the house; first men with the weapons and then the men with the flames.  
With all of the dry hay, the barn went up even faster than the house. All that could be heard was the popping noise of wood being burnt, and an ominous whooshing sound of the flames themselves.  
Sebastian realized he had tears flowing from his eyes. He could feel the sting from the smoke in his eyes and the heat from the inferno.  
Brook stood beside him, holding Elliot and crying silently. Her eyes and cheeks were red with grief.  
Elliot suddenly fell through his sister's arms and to his knees and released what was in his stomach.  
"Did you hear that?" Asked one of the soldiers looking in their direction.  
"Guys," Sebastian said in a quiet shaking voice, "I think we should move deeper into the woods."  
The soldiers were all looking in their direction. Elliot's once quiet sobbing was becoming auditable.  
"Come on Elliot, we need to move before they do the same thing to us." Brook said, sounding stronger than what she felt.  
Brook tried picking up Elliot's body, which had become a deadweight. A frantic look signaled Sebastian to help. Also because the soldiers were cautiously walking their way.  
Between Brook and Sebastian, they started to carry Elliot deeper into the woods and away from the approaching armored men.

Chapter 13

"Put me down, I can walk myself." moaned Elliot.  
Sebastian and Brook had been carrying Elliot through the woods. They were fleeing from the approaching soliders.  
"Let me down," Elliot moaned again.  
Brook and Sebastian set him down. Elliot swayed a bit and said he was fine.  
"Are you well enough to run?" Brook asked concerned. The tears had stopped falling down from her eyes, yet the tear trails were still visile in the minimal light.  
After Elliot nodded, the three of them made their way through the woods as quietly as they could, heading away from the oncoming soliders.  
They weren't quiet enough. The footfalls were getting closer and closer to them.  
They had splashed through the creek and were to the other side and continuing through the woods well before any of the men made it to the bank.  
Sebastian could get the image of Brook's and Elliot's burning house out of his mind. Also, knowing what had happened to their parents inside.  
He only wanted them to be safe, and he was about to do what he had to.  
Sebastian decided to make a split descion "We've got to split up, it'll be harder for them to track us."  
All three of them were starting to breath harder. Sweat was already perspiring on Sebastians forehead, as well as the other two.  
"Where will we meet up if things calm down?" Brook asked through a couple heavy breaths.  
The word if struck Sebastian hard. If was a mighty unpredictable word. Anything could happen with if.  
"The rock," Sebastian said.  
Brook grabbed Elliot's hand and pulled him off to one side, pulling farther away from Sebastian.  
Sebastian looked off to the side where Brook had pulled off to and saw her staring back at him, just before the foliage seperated them from each others sight.  
It sounded to Sebastian that the band men were staying together, and were only following him. Was he making that much noise?  
Trees were flying past him. The instinct to survive had kicked in and he was running harder than he had ever run before.  
Even though Sebastian was running hard, and the sound of his heart was beating in his ears, he heard another sound.  
He wasn't sure what he was hearing, but Sebastian was sure it was another set of footsteps.  
These ones were faster than the rest, and seemed to be coming from somewhere else, rather than the band of murders.  
No matter how fast Sebastian tried to push himself, he never seemed to gain any distance on the footfalls.  
Now it was behind him and closing fast.  
"Those men behind you aren't nearly as tired as you are." Donald said.  
Sebasian wanted to stop and hit the robot for scaring him so much. Yet hug and cry with relief for seeing a familiar face.  
"It seems like you're a bit out of breath for talking," Donald said.  
"You think?" Sebastion retorted through two gasps.  
"Hold on one moment," Donald said.  
In a seconds time, the robot had stopped projecting his hologram, and was running in his true form.  
The robot waited a few moments longer, took a few steps faster the Sebastion, turned and picked Sebastion up.  
Sebastion had not expected that at all. Had he not been so out of breath, he probably would have yelped in suprise. Coupled with that, he would never had expected a robot to throw him over his shoulder like a bag of flour.  
Even being metal, Sebastion didn't feel much pain being bounced on Donalds metal shoulder.  
With Donald's superhuman speed, they had outrun their persuers in mintes.  
It was also that time, the adreniline that kept Sebastion from feeling pain had worn off, and now his stomach was hurting.  
"Well, that was fun." Sebastion said with a wince as he was set down.  
"You terrible at making new friends," Donald said.  
"Shut up,"  
Sebastion was sitting on a rock underneith an enormous tree.  
He also noticed, many thing were different about the surroundings than what they were when they were nearer to the city.  
The soil itself was rockier and the ground vegitation was much less. There were as many trees, but the ones that were around, were large.  
"Is there a cave around here that we can make camp in?" Sebastion asked Donald, who was still in his robot form.  
After a moment of silence, he said no, but there was a depression in the side of the hill.  
They walked towards it.  
It wasn't much more than a overhang, but it was enough to give Sebastion a place to sleep.  
Sebastion sat down and pulled took his knapsack off of his back.  
From it, he took his sleeping bag that he had used a couple days ago, his water pouch, and his small supply of food.  
With the sleeping bag down, some food in his stomach, and water to wash it down, Sebastian fell instantly in a deep sleep.

There she was, just standing there.  
Brooks long hair was blowing in the wind, rippling with the tall meadow grass, the sun shining brightly.  
Sebastion ran as fast as he could so he could be with her, to hug her in relief of her well being.  
It seemed to take Sebastian only seconds to get to her.  
As he touched her shoulder, she turned around and her eyes had been gouged out.  
Sebastion backed away in terror and fear. As he did, he fell over something.  
Getting up on his hands and knees, he saw what it was he had tripped over.  
It was his grandfather. The old man was beat, cut, and worse of all dead.  
You can't be real, this isn't happening! Sebastion cried out.  
But we are, the two bodies said in union. The two corpses walked toward Sebastion slowly.  
Sebastion got to his feet, turned and ran. Yet no matter how fast he tried to run, the apparitions only drew closer to him.  
Sebastian looked back and they were still coming. As he turned around to see where he was going, the surroundings had changed.  
He was no longer in a meadow. But rather, he was in the hills.  
All around Sebastion, the trees turned into men with swords. The bushes were grabbing at his ankles, trying to trip him.  
Suddenly, all the trees vanished. The only thing that remained was a hill.  
Where is Donald when I need him? Sebastian thought.  
Just then, underneith the now purple sky, the hill rose up, opened it's mouth and laughed.  
It's laugh was huge. It shook Sebastions very bones.  
Donald? the hill asked.  
Yeah, he's my friend. What did you do to him? Sebastion yelled at the talking terrain with all his might.  
The hill exploded into more laughter which rattled Sebastians brain.  
Donald a friend? That Benedict Arnold...the hill started to say before everything started to fad and then go black.

"Wake up Sebastion!"  
"Wha-?"  
"You've been tossing and turning for a little while now," Donald said. "Besides, the sun is starting to rise and we need to find Brook and Elliot."  
Sebastian nodded in agreement.  
Shaking his head of the nightmare, Sebastion slipped out of his sleeping bag, rolled it up and then put it in the bag.  
Something about the entire nightmare bothered Sebastian.  
He could remember it vividly.  
Seeing Brook and his grandfather in their condition didn't scare him. Neither did the chase.  
What really seemed to nag on his mind was the hill and what it said.  
Sebastion had no idea why, but he was definently bothered when the hill said Benedict Arnold.

Chapter 14

"What's the reason for the quietness?" Donald asked.  
Sebastian shrugged his shoulders.  
Sebastian was noramlly quiet with Donald because he had nothing to talk of. Donald had no previous expirences of his own, so there really was nothing to talk about.  
But the silence that had fallen between the two of them was out of the ordinary.  
It was almost as if there was a betrayal of the deepest kind, yet no action was done to inflict this awkward silence.  
"We need to go to back." Sebastian said, trying to break the silence.  
"Naturally," Donald replied ",we have to complete our mission."  
"Not only that, but we have to make sure Brook and Elliot are alright."  
Donald and Sebastion continued their way back.  
Sebastian couldn't believe how long it was taking. Surely they didn't run that far. Not enough to make it a day trip to return.  
The trip, not only was long, but very exserting. Sebastian figured they were traveling twice the distance over just because the terrain was hilly.  
One thing that did make the trip enjoyable was the silence.  
Living in the future where he was from, Sebastian relaized he had never expirenced the true sounds of nature.  
The wind blew clean and free. There was no humming of power lines. No rumbling of passing cars. Just the sound of the wind blowing, and the sounds of nature itself  
Time seemed to pass faster than the distance they were covering. Perhaps it just seemed that way.  
Sebastian was just anxious on getting to the rock by the creek to make sure Brook was alright.  
Sebastian had lived his life without distraction, yet now he had one. One that he was happy to have around. And one he had to have around.  
It was just then that he noticed it. Complete silence.  
Not a bird, insect, or creature of any type made any noise. The only sound came from the wind rustled leaves.  
Grabbing his from his bad, Sebastion readied himself, waiting for anything.  
"That's really not nescery." A gruff vioce said above them.  
In a tree a few steps ahead was a man, dressed mostly in armour.  
Sebastian brandished his knife, but the man only sighed.  
With aparent ease, the man jumped down from his branch and landed easily on the ground. He then walked toward them.  
"You can put that thing away boy. Like I said, it's not nesasary." The man said. Sebastian did only after a moments hesitation.  
The man was completely relaxed.  
Sebastion glanced at Donald, and it was giving the same impression. It was only then did Sebastion relaize Donald had his hologram on.  
"What do you want from us?" Donald asked.  
Ignoring the question, "Which of you is Sebastian and which of you is Donald?"  
After Donald said nothing, Sebastian announced who he was.  
The man nodded and then said, "For some reason, the kings newest advisor has orders out to kill the both of you."  
"But what did we do?" Sebastian asked nervously.  
Knowing that his life was after, Sebastian wasn't sure how to act. One thing for sure, is that he felt afraid.  
The man gave a shrug. "All I know is that you ar to die."  
"So where does that leave us at the moment?" Donald asked. There was no hint of fear in his robot voice.  
"Depends," the solider replied  
After Sebastian gave him an inquirous look, the gave a small chuckle.  
"If I am to follow my duty, I would dispatch of you right now. But seeing that I think the man is a creatin and you seem to be a threat to him, I'd like to help you."  
Sebastion immediately relaxed when he heard those words, but then something else tugged on his mind.  
"Who are you?"  
The man in armour smiled. "You've met me once before boy. The names Dartanian"

Chapter 15

"You're willing to help us?" Sebastian asked excitedly. The whole situation seemed brighter by the thought of some inside help. Who else would know about the whereabouts of a person in the castle than one who worked in it?  
"Calm down boy," Dartanian said, raising his leather padded hands. "When I said I would help, it means I'd help, not commit the crime for you."  
"I'm just glad we have someone to help us." Donald said.  
"Before we do anything, we need to find Elliot and Brook," Sebastian said, remembering his two friends. "And I think I know where they'll be."  
Donald and Sebastian, with Dartanian, continued their way back to civilization.  
Dartanian commented them on getting so far away. He said most people they had hunted down, were caught in a few hours.  
The gaurd, Sebastian found, we really a nice guy. Despite his rather tall and burly appearance, he had quite a gentle nature.  
Dartanians face reminded Sebastian of a bit like an ape; think upper brow, droopy kind of face, and hairy all over.  
Also like an ape, he was very gentle, unless provoked.  
As they made their way to the stream, where Sebastian hoped Brook and Elliot would be waiting for them, Dartanian told the two of them about his life.  
He was actually raised on a farm and was going to continue in his fathers footsteps, but there was a war and lost his father.  
Being too young and having no one to take over the farm, he had sold it for a price which was much less than the actual vaule of the land.  
From there he went into military training, which became his new home. The general there had adopted Dartanian as his son, seeing that the general lost his own son in a raid by savage forgieners.  
As time went on, he became a military leader and had led a few small battles against outsiders.  
Dartanian told them that in his one battle, he befriended an outsider woman while in capture. Because of her love for him, she helped him escape to his own lands where he married her and now has a child with.  
Sebastian and Donald would ask other questions along the narrative, but generally not interupting.  
Dartanians story had lasted a long enough time to get them to the river. Brook and Elliot were no were no where to be seen.  
Sebastians stomach felt weak and his heart ached. His friends weren't there, and he suspected the worst.  
"Release them or we will attach!" cried a females' vioce. The voice sounded like Brooks, which made Sebastian hopeful  
The three of them scanned the area, but couldn't see where the voice had originated.  
After a moment, Dartanian unshethed his sword, a long thin blade with a beautiful look to it. It wasn't a sword for taking beatings with, but rather a blade of skill. One the would get the job done quickly.  
There was a brief wistling sound, and then a rather melodic ding of a rock bouncing off of Dartanian's helmet.  
"Last chance!" yelled the vioce again. Still, the location of where it came from was a mystery.  
"We are not being held hostage! We have befriended this gaurd!" Sebastian yelled out blindly.  
"Sebastian is telling the truth," Donald agreed. "Would your lover lie to you?"  
Sebastain turned and glared at Donald. He knew his cheeks were red, not with anger, but rather of embarresment.  
There was another whistle.  
This flying rock wasn't aimed at Dartanian this time, but rather Sebastian.  
Dartanian, who had kept his bearings the entire time, started laughing. First a little, then almost to the point of tears.  
Despite the pain Sebastian had in his leg where the sling had shot him, he turned and stared at Dartanian, as well as Donald.  
After a few mintes of his laughter ringing through the woods, he caught his breath.  
"If I were to completely disarm myself, would that prove to you that I am friend, not foe?" Dartanian yelled out to the trees.  
There was a few moments of silence, then a call of agreement.  
Dartanian immediately sheathed his sword, unbuckled it, and propped it against the nearest tree. He then continued on by unbuckling and untieing his armour. Everything he took off, he set near the tree with his sword with care, a sign of respect for his position.  
As soon as Dartanian had completely taken off all his battlements, he stood in nothing clothes rather simular to Sebastian's.  
"I am now defenceless," Dartanian yelled out. Though he was being ordered by a complete stranger, he almost looked amused.  
A few seconds passed by. Then a couple of minutes. There was no sound, with the exception of the flowing water.  
Then, from around a tree a short distance away, Brook appeared. From another tree came Elliot holding the sling.

Chapter 16

Sebastian figured there was no sence in going forth and trying to capture the new advisor, and everyone agreed.  
Brook was took shaken up, along with Elliot. Dartanian was tired from the chase last night and staying up in hope they would cross his path. Donald was indifferent, but Sebastian wouldn't mind the extra sleep.  
They decided it would be best to make camp a distance off the beaten path that people normally traveled and farther away from civilization.  
While they waited, Dartanian explained the layout of the castle, or at least the parts he knew of it. He was even able to tell them of some hiding spots that people of the court hide valubles and children in the event of a raid.  
He went floor by floor, starting at the dungeons, moving all the way up to the top of the archery towers.  
Everything that he explained to them, Dartanian would draw a diagram for them in the dirt.  
Despite the fact Brook was shaken up at the deed she had done, she was recovering very fast. In no time at all, she was talking and acting like her old self.  
Elliot on the other hand, was acting distant. The loss of his mother and father was taking a big toll on him. He would often just stare into an abyss with no emotion in his face at all.  
Dartanian himself seemed to be enjoying himself thoroly. He almost acted as if he was on vacation. Sebastian figured that he would be doing drill of a sort at the moment instead of lounging around.  
As the sun started to set, a small fire was built.  
Dartanian had left to go hunting despite Brook's protests that he may run away.  
When he returned, he had four plump and very fat rabbits on sticks for cooking. Much to Sebastians relief, Dartanian had skinned them out of sight of Brook. He doubted she could handle the sight of rabbits being skinned.  
By the time Dartanian said the rabbits were ready to be eaten, the sun had sunk below the hills and the area was basked in a deep shade.  
Dartanian started to hand out the rabbits to everyone; one for Brook and Elliot, one for himself, and one for each Donald and Sebastian.  
When Donald turned down the food, Donald claimed he didn't feel well enough to eat. Dartanian just shrugged and bit into his meal.  
Donald sat to the left of Sebastian, and Brook was to his right; she was leaning her head on his shoulder. Elliot was on the other side of her and Dartanian was opposite of Sebastian.  
"So," Dartanian said to Sebastian across the fire, "For what reason are you after the kings' new advisor?"  
The question had never arisen to Sebastian before. He didn't know what to say.  
"To kill him." Donald said bluntly.  
"Really?" Dartanian said. Sebastian could feel Brook pull a little away from him. "How did he wrong you?"  
After a moments pause, "He killed my grandfather."  
Dartanian took a bite of his meat and chewed and thought. After he swallowed, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, but why did he kill your grandfather?"  
Taking a deep breath he said it was for his invention.  
Sebastian knew he was opening a can of worms that he wouldn't be able to close. His stomach felt queasy, because he knew he wouldn't be able to close this can until all the worms were out.  
"What did he steal?" Elliot asked. It was one of the few words he had spoken the entire day.  
"Don't do it." Donald whispered feircely into Sebastians ear.  
Sebastian stood up; sitting down made him feel more uncomfortable. It also gave him more confidence to be standing up rightously.  
"I'm not who you think I am," Sebastian started, "I am actually a person of the future. Donald here, isn't really my brother, but a man made entirely of metal. I am here to avenge my grandfathers death and take back the machine that allows people to travel through time."  
After Sebastian had given his 'confession', his knees felt a little weak, as if he just gave a speech in front of a bunch of people.  
Everyone around the fire just stared at Sebastian. Feeling that he had to justify himself, he told Donald to get rid of the hologram.  
"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Donald ask.  
Sebastian nodded, "If I'm going to have them as friends, and have my friends risk their lives for me, I want them to know the whole truth."  
Donald shrugged. And in that instant he did, he changed into his original form.  
There weren't any sounds, except the sound of the crackling of the fire.  
Elliot was the first one to react.  
He got up slowly and made his way toward Donald. Brook reached up to grab his hand, but he pulled it out before she could get a good grip.  
With his hands shaking slightly, Elliot reached out, and had his fingertips brush the shiny surface of Donald's body.  
"Wow," Elliot said under his breath.  
Then it was Dartanian who reacted next. "Well, I'll be damned. A walking, talking suit of armour. Must be a cousin of mine." The last sentance was said aloud as a joke, but it seemed like everyone was still in shock.  
After a moments of silence, Brook got up and walked off into the dark.  
Sebastian sighed, knowing that she was upset about what he had just told them.  
Getting up, he pursued her into the woods. No one followed.  
Sebastian didn't have to go far, just to the top of the next hill, that was where Brook was standing with her arms crossed, leaning against a tree.  
He approached her and put his arm around her shoulder, trying to draw he closer, but she just shrugged off his attempt.  
"You lied to me," Brook said simply.  
Sebastian tried searching for the right words to explain himself. "At the time of meeting you, we weren't sure who we could trust."  
"But what about after when you realized the my family only wanted to help? Why didn't you say anything?"  
"Well," Sebastian said, feeling more worse with ever question shot at him, "I was afraid we would scare you. I'm sorry about not being honest to you."  
Suddenly yelling, tears in her eyes again, "You were afriad you'd scare us? Sorry about lying to me?! Explain all of this to my parents!"  
Tears started to fill Sebastians eyes. The guilt of knowing that half of her family was dead because of him and Donald.  
"My parents are dead!" She continued, "We have no one! There is no way we can live! Everything we had ever had is now gone!"  
Brook's ranting got louder and more vicious. She soon started swinging her arms more dramatically, even hitting Sebastian's arm in anger.  
Throughout the whole ordeal, Sebastian stood there, teared up at the thought of hurting someone he truly cared for.  
It the middle of her rant, Brook just stopped and sat down, head buried in her knees and arms and cried. There wasn't anymore that she could say that she hadn't said already.  
Sebastian sat beside her and put his arm over her shoulder and Brook didn't push him away, but shuddered.  
Brook lifted her head and looked at Sebastian, tears still streaming down her face.  
They sat there together in dim light of the mostly full moon. It would get darker for a few minutes whenever a cloud would pass between them and their light.  
It wasn't long before Brook had stopped crying and her breathing returned back to normal.  
"I understand what you had to do, and truly don't blame you for my parents death." Brook said while staring out in the woods. "I think the king's new advisor is purely evil and needs to be stopped at al costs."  
Sebastian hugged her closer, "So you're going to help us capture him?"  
She then did something he did not expect and laughed, "Of course! I can't let my lover go into battle without me!"  
Sebastian blushed a deep maroon, "Donald said that, I had nothing to do with it."  
"It's okay, I like the sound of it." Brook said and then kissed him on the cheek.  
"We should get back to camp," Sebastian suggested.  
Standing up, they walked back to camp hand in hand.

Chapter 17

The morning came too quickly for the party of hide aways.  
After a quick bite to eat, which Dartanian caught and cooked well before anyone awoke, they went over the plan again.  
As Donald explained it, there seemed to be so many possible snags in it, too many places for it to go wrong.  
Still, it would be worth it if they would be able to pull it off.  
As part of the plan, Dartanian would leave for the castle and would make a stop somewhere first.  
The hardest part was waiting for their turn to start the plan.  
"I am so bored," Sebastian said after a short while.  
"Think about it like this," Elliot said turning around, "You won't be by the end of the day."  
Elliot then turned back around and took aim with his sling at a distant tree and hit it. Sebastian was curious and asked if he could have a try.  
With some pointers from Elliot, he was at least able to get it in the right direction.  
Sebastians first attempts were terrible to say the least. His shots were going everywhere, even behind him.  
After a rock bounced off of Donald, Sebastian decided it would probably be best if he didn't use the sling again.  
Sebastian seemed to be the only one who as bored and had nothing to do.  
Brook had taken an intrest in Donald.  
He's only a robot, she can't possible have feelings for him, Sebastian thought.  
Brook was fascinated by Donald's every aspect. The way he moved, talked, and even his very metal.  
"It's so much thinner and lighter than any metal in our time," She commented.  
"It's called aluminum." Donald explained.  
Donald tried explaining to Brook how circuts worked and how that allowed him to function, but she had no idea what he was talking about.  
Because there was no secret about their origin anymore, Donald walked around in his natural form; a man of metal.  
As the morning wore on, Elliot finally got tired of practicing with his sling and layed down for a nap in Sebastians sleeping bag.  
Brook finally gave up trying to figure out Donald and went to talking with Sebastian.  
Sebastian felt so much relief lifted from his soulders being able to tell Brook about his childhood without lies. When she would ask about something he told her, he was more than happy to explain, even if she didn't always understand it.  
Sebastian looked at Elliot laying on his stomach and saw in his one hand was the sling and got an idea.  
"Do you think it would be possible to make that sling easier to use?" Sebastian asked Brook.  
"I suppose," She replied, her eyes now glowed with the thought of inventing something.  
"I was think of a device that would be held in one hand, and the other hand would hold the rock." Sebastian explained. He was trying to explain a sling shot to her. "The rock would the be put in some device, and when pulled back and released, the rock would fly."  
"I think I could make something like that!" Brook said excitedly.  
"That's going to have to wait," Donald said, "It's noon and we have to stick to the plan."  
With that said, Brook went over and woke Elliot.  
While she did that, Sebastian decided he would leave his sleeping bag there, but take his bag with him. He checked the contents of the bag once again  
Once the fire was put out and everyone was ready, they started their journey to the castle.  
It took them only a few minutes to find the trail, and a few more minutes longer to get out of the woods, but once they were, the first thing they saw was the remanents of Schlock house and barn.  
Elliot had stared at it, and even turned his head while walking, but Brook kept her head held high and eyes strait ahead. Sebastian figured she didn't want to lose her nerve.  
As they walked, Sebastian told Elliot and Brook about the future and what was possible.  
Then something struck Sebastian's mind and he pulled out the letter Dr. Kimiko gave him.  
"This," Sebastian exclaimed, "Is what they call paper. It's made of wood."  
"Weird," Elliot said, holding the paper in his hands, "It's so light and bendy. It doesn't seem to be made of wood."  
After Elliot handed the paper to Brook and she inspected it, holding it up to the sun and looking through it. She agreed with her brother, it didn't look like it was made of wood.  
"Are you sure this isn't some kind of joke?" She asked.  
"I'm being honest," Sebastian said. "Donald, back me up here. Isn't paper made of wood?"  
Donald looked at Seabastian. Then to Elliot and Brook who were waiting for the robot to agree or deny what he had said.  
"Paper made of wood? Are you crazy!" Donald suddenly exclaimed.  
Brook and Elliot started to laugh uncontrolably, which made Sebastian turn red. And in the middle of the day, there was no way to hide it.  
"Thanks for having my back," Sebastian muttered. Donald just smiled, pleased with himself.  
After Brook's laughing calmed down, she finally said that she believed him. She said she could see the tiny grains of wood fiber in it.  
Other than that one event, the entire trip was uneventful. As a group, they expirenced the growing number of people as they drew closer to the castle's outer walls.  
Ssebastian was kind of nervous as the walked into the city walls. There were gaurds stationed outside of the gates looking at ever person that entered. As soon as they got past them and entered the bustling city market area, his fear evaporated.  
It was hard for everyone to stick together with all the people pushing and moving about, but they kept an eye out where each other were.  
Besides, even if they did get completely seperated, they all were heading to the same place; The Drunken Battlements

Chapter 18

"Are you sure about this Bardy?" Elliot asked.  
"What? You afraid of tight places?" The bartender asked.  
"A little," Elliot replied quietly.  
"Think about this instead: There's more room in there than there is around a man's neck who's about to be hanged." Bardy said.  
"Such an optomist guy," Sebastian said to Brook with a snort.  
Bardy turned around and faced Sebasian, "Just consider yourself lucky I felt like being in a helping mood today. Now get in your barrel!"  
Sebastian groaned. The barrel Elliot got in was the same as Sebastians, but he was much larger than Elliot.  
"Come on, get in," Bardy said again.  
Sebastian just stood there looking into the barrel. He wasn't claustiphobic, but something that small would sure get him to be.  
"Sebastian," Bardy said, his rough vioce oozeing fake sweetness, "Would you like me to hold your hand through the whole prosess?"  
Sebastian shook his head.  
"Listen," Donald finally said, "Everything is all ready: woman, alchol, and Elliot in a barrel. Once your in, we can get moving and you'll be out trying to get yourself killed in no time at all."  
Sebastian smiled, "If you put it that way." With that, he climbed in. Brook came to him and kissed him quickly before backing away.  
Immedately after, Bardy went to each other barrels, placed the lid on them and gentle hit them down with a mallet.  
Sebastian was amazed he could fit in the barrel, but when the lid was put on, everything got so much tighter.  
Immediately, the heat from his body and breathing rose the barrels tempature. The more Sebastian breathed to calm down, the warmer and sweatier he became.  
Shortly after the lid went on, the whole world seemed to shake to Sebastian. Had he had a little more room, the jolting back and forth in complete and utter blackness wouldn't seem so bad.  
Time slowly seemed to tick by. Every moment Sebastian endured in the container made his mind scream out, begging him to let him out and breath the fresh sunlight air.  
Then, everything stopped rocking back and forth.  
Soon we'll be let out then I can breath! thought Sebastian.  
A minute went by. Then another.  
Sebastian started to panic slightly, bumping the top of his head against the top of the barrel.  
Every minute that went seemed to be an eternity. Every bead of sweat that rolled down the side of Sebastians cheek made his anxiety rise a little more.  
There was a thump above Sebastians head, then light and new air poured in onto him. Above him stood a smiling man whom he'd never seen before.  
"Names Magnus," the apparent militia man introduced himself. "Slight change of plans."  
"Thank you so much," Sebastian said, "We still need to get my friend Elliot out."  
"Will do." Magnus said, already taking the lid off of Elliot's barrel.  
The man named Magnus, was armed much to the same way as Dartanian. There were a few differences though. The choice of weapon for Magnus seemed to be a battle ax.  
Like all the militia men, Sebastian noticed that magnus was very well built, just like Dartanian.  
But unlike Dartanian, Magnus was very different. He spoke differently, with what seemed to be an accent. Also, he was much shorter and broader with a much darker complexsion to his skin. His vioce also sounded gentler and more inviting too.  
"Like I said, there has been a change in plans," Magnus said after he had both Elliot and Sebastian out and in front of him. "Dartanian and I are like brothers, that's why he had me do his job for him at the moment."  
"Other than you letting us out, there hasn't been any more changes, has there?" Elliot asked.  
"Only one," Magnus said turning to Sebastian, "It seems that your brother has cowerdly bones in his body."  
Sebastian only nodded in understanding. He never expected Donald to just run off like that, especailly in his time of need. He thought Donald's programming was to help him stay alive, not run off.  
"It doesn't matter, you can't change what's done, there's no going back." Sebastian said.  
Magnus smiled, "You'd make one fine solider boy. If you live that long."  
"Thanks Magnus," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.  
"Alright now, I've got to get back to my duties." Magnus said. He turned on his heel and opened and closed the great wooden door as he left.  
Left alone in the room, Sebastian looked around.  
There really wasn't much in the room to look at. In fact, there was nothing at all. It was just the cart they had arrived in, their empty barrel, and Elliot and himself.  
Something seemed wrong here. Sebastian couldn't put his finger on it, but his gut told him something was amiss.  
Then it hit him. This was the wrong place!  
Dartanian had told them that they would end up at either the councilors bedchamber or the kitchen in the worst case scenario.  
"Elliot, we have to get out of here!" Sebastian said suddenly. Elliot gave a quick nod. He had noticed something was wrong too.  
Rushing to the door, Sebastian grabbed the cold iron handles and yanked the door open.  
As soon as the doors opened, he was greeted by a bunch of laughing soliders. On hands in knees in front of this group, was Dartanian gagged and hands tied without any of his armor on.  
Next to him, was Brook in the same condition.  
"Brook!" Elliot yelled, pushing past Sebastian.  
Before he could reach her, one of the soliders reached out and grabbed him. When he tried to struggle against the grip that held him, another man came forward and gave Elliot a solid punch in the stomach.  
Elliot quit skwirming and just cried silently.  
Another man in armor came forth and tied and gagged Elliot, who didn't even put up a fight.  
This whole time, Sebastian stared, frozen with fear and unknowing.  
A solider came to him with some rope. Sebastian couldn't move. His mind screamed to act, but his body was numb to his commands.  
The whole time, the soliders were laughing. Even as they half pushed, half directed the way through the castle, a solider would give out a chuckle.  
Where are they taking us? Sebastian thought.  
Then the diagrams of the castle from the night before came into his mind. They were leading them to a tower, a prisoners tower.  
The trip through each halls lasted only minutes before arriving to the tower. One solider drew his sword and told them to march up the stairs.  
The spiral stairs were terrible slippery and Sebastian thought he was going to fall all the time.  
A few seconds later, they had gotten to a trap door, where the solider opened it and put a small latter to the opening.  
"Get up there." He grunted, pointing with his blade..  
With as much care as they could, they all managed to climb the latter and get into the tiny room.  
Once in there, the solider closed the door and yelled up to them that they could take each other rope of for each other, and laughed as he left.  
Brook came to Sebastian and untied his ropes, and he then in turn did the same for her. Each of them untied someone else.  
After that, no one said anything.  
Dartanian sat on some hay which was scattered around as bedding. Brook and Elliot took to staring at the floor or some piece of straw laying about. Sebastian decided to stare at everyone else.  
Sebastian had failed to avenge his grandfather's death, Donald was gone, they were captured, and all he had done is ruin a bunch of really nice peoples lives. He had done everything but succeed.  
Just then, a vioce spoke to them from above.


End file.
